WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) delivered the following in response to President Biden’s address to the joint session of Congress: 

Tonight, we heard from President Biden on his accomplishments in his first 100 days in office, and on his vision for our country going forward. 

It’s been a telling 100 days and a telling evening – though not perhaps in the way that President Biden has presented them to Utahns. 

While President Biden campaigned as a centrist and a moderate, he has governed as anything but. 

Consider a few of his main “accomplishments” thus far.

In less than 6 months in office, he’s issued 40 executive orders, including:

Halting new oil and gas leases on public lands. That’s a crippling blow to the countless Utahns who depend on those leases for their livelihoods.

Canceling the Keystone Pipeline, with 1,000 jobs lost and 10,000 more that won’t be created.

Rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement.

Reimplementing a Catch-and-Release program, halting immigration enforcement, and ending the Remain in Mexico program and our asylum agreements with the northern triangle countries – creating huge surges of migrants and the now massive crisis on the border.

He’s passed a “COVID relief” bill spending $1.9 trillion – with only 9% going towards public health, and the rest going towards a partisan, progressive wish list. 

He’s unveiled a $2.3 trillion “infrastructure” package of the same ilk – with only 7% expected to go towards actual infrastructure.

He’s unveiled his so-called “American Families Plan” – a massive $1.8 trillion spending proposal that will be financed primarily by tax increases.

In fact, in just the first 6 months of his presidency, he’s on track to spend a whopping $6 trillion dollars – a total larger than the amount we spent on World War II, when adjusted for inflation.  

On top of that, President Biden has signaled openness to nuking the filibuster and packing the Supreme Court. He’s insultingly and falsely painted Georgia’s election integrity efforts as “Jim Crow 2.0.”

Rather than the “unity” he promised, President Biden has instead delivered extreme partisanship. He’s taken unprecedented action to fulfill a progressive, far-left agenda and to increase the size, scope, and cost of the federal government. 

Unfortunately, this agenda will only serve to make Utah and our country less prosperous, less fair, and less free. We have to remember that ultimately, government power is force, and expands at the expense of our liberty.

Hardworking Utahns everywhere deserve an agenda that offers real hope, unity, freedom, and opportunity.

Thank you.